"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28
If you want, you can follow the link to get a short summary of the play up to this point, and what the literal meaning of the words are. But I'd like to go a little deeper and relate this to high school life. (Shocker, I know, but not impossible.)
The first time I heard this was in my 10th grade English class. I only liked Shakespeare back then, and didn't appreciate the full meaning of the words. It was just something we had to memorize for an assignment.
Then I watched the play Macbeth, starring Sir Patrick Stewart. (Professor Xavier and Captain Jean-Luc Pickard for those who don't know him by name). This was a very good version of the play, if not the best. Patrick Stewart completely blew me away in his epic performance of the tortured king, bringing both depth and ruthlessness to a complex character. This version was not for the faint of heart, showing plenty of blood and murder.
When it finished, there was a short section afterwords, where Patrick Stewart was being interviewed by a young lady. She asked him what he had done to prepare for the 'Tomorrow' speech, because it is such a widely preformed speech. He said that he had gone to talk to his friend Ian McKellen (Gandalf, Magneto), who had also played the part of Macbeth in the past. Patrick Stewart said that Ian McKellen told him something that he had never heard before, but that instantly made sense.
He said that the important part of the speech, was the word 'and'.
Think about it for a second. Say it out loud, to yourself. "Tomorrow AND Tomorrow AND Tomorrow." Something about emphasizing such a small word, marks the relentless passage of time. Tomorrow will always come, and there will be a tomorrow after that, and a tomorrow after that one...
If we look at life as a set of tomorrow's, there truly is nothing good in the world. Life signifies nothing when we focus on the tomorrow's. I know that as high school students, it's so easy to fall into the pattern of tomorrow's. Tomorrow a paper is due in English, Psychology reading is due on Tuesday. Many of the people I know tell me their weeks based on what they have due that day. I do it all the time.
"Out, Out brief candle!" Is that all we want from our lives? To turn in what is due, and then leave the stage? To me, this quote suggests that there is so much more to life. That if we focus on tomorrow, life will strut and fret, and then pass us by when we do not notice it. Signifying nothing.
Life is so much more than that.
The first time I heard this was in my 10th grade English class. I only liked Shakespeare back then, and didn't appreciate the full meaning of the words. It was just something we had to memorize for an assignment.
Then I watched the play Macbeth, starring Sir Patrick Stewart. (Professor Xavier and Captain Jean-Luc Pickard for those who don't know him by name). This was a very good version of the play, if not the best. Patrick Stewart completely blew me away in his epic performance of the tortured king, bringing both depth and ruthlessness to a complex character. This version was not for the faint of heart, showing plenty of blood and murder.
When it finished, there was a short section afterwords, where Patrick Stewart was being interviewed by a young lady. She asked him what he had done to prepare for the 'Tomorrow' speech, because it is such a widely preformed speech. He said that he had gone to talk to his friend Ian McKellen (Gandalf, Magneto), who had also played the part of Macbeth in the past. Patrick Stewart said that Ian McKellen told him something that he had never heard before, but that instantly made sense.
He said that the important part of the speech, was the word 'and'.
Think about it for a second. Say it out loud, to yourself. "Tomorrow AND Tomorrow AND Tomorrow." Something about emphasizing such a small word, marks the relentless passage of time. Tomorrow will always come, and there will be a tomorrow after that, and a tomorrow after that one...
If we look at life as a set of tomorrow's, there truly is nothing good in the world. Life signifies nothing when we focus on the tomorrow's. I know that as high school students, it's so easy to fall into the pattern of tomorrow's. Tomorrow a paper is due in English, Psychology reading is due on Tuesday. Many of the people I know tell me their weeks based on what they have due that day. I do it all the time.
"Out, Out brief candle!" Is that all we want from our lives? To turn in what is due, and then leave the stage? To me, this quote suggests that there is so much more to life. That if we focus on tomorrow, life will strut and fret, and then pass us by when we do not notice it. Signifying nothing.
Life is so much more than that.
